The Center for Fiction is thrilled to have welcomed Emma Donoghue, acclaimed author of Room and Slammerkin, to celebrate the release of her latest novel, The Paris Express. Donoghue has once again crafted propulsive narrative fiction set in a single location—this time, a train. She was joined by Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, for a conversation about craft and form.
Based on an 1895 disaster, The Paris Express features an eclectic cast of characters—members of the French parliament, a medical student, a secretary and her boss, a young anarchist, and many more. Donoghue serves her readers a slice of 1890s Paris in this deeply researched and evocative story, capturing the politics, glamor, and chaos that propelled the world into the 20th century.
Featured Book
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The Paris Express
By Emma Donoghue
Published by Summit Books/Simon & Schuster
Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.
From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy” (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.
In Conversation
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Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue
Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She migrates between genres, writing for screen and stage, but she is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (The Wonder, Frog Music, Slammerkin, Life Mask, The Sealed Letter) to the contemporary (Akin, Stir-Fry, Hood, Landing). Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes. Donoghue also wrote the screenplays for Room and The Wonder.
Photo Credit: Woodgate Photography
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Andrea Lawlor
Andrea Lawlor
Andrea Lawlor is the author of a chapbook, Position Papers (Factory Hollow Press, 2016), and a novel, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl (Rescue Press, 2017; Vintage, 2019; Picador UK, 2019). Their stories, essays, and poems have appeared in publications such as Ploughshares, The Brooklyn Rail, jubilat, and the New York Times. They are the recipient of a Whiting Award for Fiction, as well as fellowships from Lambda Literary, Radar Labs, the Ucross Foundation, and Macdowell Colony. They are an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Mount Holyoke College, and live in Western Massachusetts.
Photo Credit: Joanna Chattman
